The Magic of Dogs
You don’t have to tell a dog lover how special dogs are. And if you ask anyone that knows me, I have always adored dogs (Drew and others are rolling their eyes thinking “obsessed” might be a better choice of words).
We brought Sadie into our family in September. She is now 9 months old and we fell in love with her from day 1. She is a little timid and we have been working with her to help her become the confident dog we know she can be. We recently decided to add her brother Dugan to the family. Drew was a little apprehensive and understandably so! Two dogs are a whole new dynamic.
Walks now involve some interesting gymnastics to untangle ourselves from leashes when Sadie and Dugan decide that walking a straight line just isn’t fun. We have been getting used to their play fights which sound like the end of the world. Picture if Cujo had a sister… But overall, they are the sweetest pair and they have brought us a lot of joy.
Sadie has been visiting Riverview and was a little shy of all the new people and sounds but she was warming up and everyone definitely loves her. This weekend, we brought both dogs for the second time. This is where the magic started for me. These are two 9-month old puppies… They should have been crazy, misbehaving twerps. But they got it….. They understood that they had to be on their best behaviour. They understood that they couldn’t be boisterous. They approached everyone gently and asked for pats.
There have been multitudes of studies that show pets can lower blood pressure, relieve anxiety, and promote calmness. I saw that today. I saw Sadie snuggle up to a lovely lady that will be 100 next week. I saw a gentleman sitting there with his hand on Dugan’s back, both he and Dugan peacefully enjoying each other’s company. It was so very obvious that our dogs know what their jobs are and they will happily visit Riverview and accept all the loving attention. Drew and I feel truly honoured that we can bring our pups to Riverview and see the magic happen.
Susan